Baseball Game

Thursday, May 27, 2010

The Kansas City Royals got Josh Anderson from the Tigers for some cash. ; This was a good move for both teams. ; But, a really good bargain for the Royals. ; Anderson was designated for assignment and had to clear waivers to be put in the farm system. ; That would be unlikely. ; So, rather than wait their turn, the Royals gave the Tigers cash and made it a trade. ; The Tigers get money out of the deal instead of losing him for nothing. ; Win win. ; He has hit .242 in 74 games and has 13 stolen bases. ; He strengthens the outfield for the Royals and gives them a little more speed. ; Since he is only 26, he has a year or two more perhaps to improve. ;

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Wednesday, May 26, 2010

In my life I have attended many more major league games than minor league ones, but 2010 will be a chance for me to experience the minors like never before. ; I will be working in media relations for the Toledo Mud Hens of the International League. ; The Mud Hens are the Triple-A affiliate of the Tigers and play at Fifth Third Field, just an hour from Detroit, which means that Tigers on rehab assignments will likely make cameo appearances throughout the season.

Those who have worn the Mud Hen uniform include Hall of Famers Kirby Puckett (the team was affiliated with the Twins from 1978 through 1986) and manager Casey Stengel, as well as longtime Tigers Travis Fryman and Kirk Gibson, and active players Curtis Granderson of the Yankees and Carlos Pe�a of the Red Sox. ; Scott Sizemore, who will replace Placido Polanco as Detroit&rsquo;s 2nd baseman this season, spent the better part of 2009 in Toledo.

Top of the 8th, game tied 4-4, men on first and second, two out: Big Sloppy strikes out on a 3-2 pitch.

Everyone wants to feel bad for Ortiz. They wonder why Francona waited until his formerly known as &quot;clutch&quot; hitter was almost to the batter's box before pinch hitting Lowell for him in Wednesday night's Toronto game. How Francona didn't tell Ortiz he was being pinch hit for sooner to avoid the embarrasingly long walk back to the dug out. Well, answer this: How else do you send a message to the &quot;D.H.&quot; who you already pinch hit for once this year? Ortiz didn't learn anything from that experience, apparently. He's approaching the point where his batting average just might fall below his I.Q.

And despite every opportunity for redemption, Big Sloppy continues to take late swings on bad balls that make him look older and slower than dear Mike Lowell, with his salt and pepper hair and surgically repaired hip. I'm not going to say Lowell would have drawn a walk in Ortiz's place, the way he did in Toronto...that's for the Baseball Gods to decide. No, I will say that if Lowell did strike out, he still wouldn't look as bad as Ortiz did.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

I heard a joke on WEEI today in which a caller asked &quot;So, is Nomar Night tonight, and Ortiz Night tomorrow night? Or is Ortiz Night tonight?&quot; ; I laughed. Then I realized that Ortiz and Nomar have a lot in common.

;See, Nomar was the face of the Sox franchise up until game 7 of the ALCS against the Yankees in 2003. Sure we had Manny on that team, and Pedro, but it was still Nomar's team. He was a born and bred Red Sox player, and probably the best short-stop of my life time. The point is, he was essentially the face of the Franchise. But, after his mysterious wrist injury (Nomar still insists that he never took steroids, and that the reason many players tested positive in 04 is because they were told that the results of that testing would be confidential. Because it was confidential, many players &quot;lied&quot; and &quot;admitted to using performance enhancing dugs&quot; just to promote standardized testing throughout the Major leagues. Yeah, Right.) After the wrist injury, Nomar just wasn't himself any more, and he buckled under increasing media scrutiny. Theo traded Nomar half way through the 04 season, and it was that jolt to the team that propelled the Sox to their first World Series title in 86 years.